POMONA — Dan Bridges, the man who helped Cal Poly Pomona regain its place in national prominence on the Division II level, resigned unexpectedly Thursday.

Bridges, who held the job at Cal Poly for three years, said he has accepted the position of Dean of Instruction for Physical Education and Athletics at San Bernardino Valley Community College.

His last day at Cal Poly Pomona will be July 15.

"I am looking forward to the move over to the new position and the new challenges," Bridges said.

"We haven't offered him a job yet," said Jane Evanson, who currently holds the Valley College job on an interim basis. "We have to wait for the board to decide."

The board will not meet until July 10th, at which time the search committee is expected to submit a name for approval.

"We were not ready to do that (Thursday night)," said SBVCC Director of Marketing and Public Relations Paul Rubalcaba. "My understanding is that we were not done with our interviews as of last Tuesday."

Why Bridges suddenly quit Cal Poly is the big question.

Sources within the Cal Poly athletic department said that Bridges was under pressure to resign for some time.

"Dan really wanted to leave," said a source under the condition of anonymity. "There is something more to it than that."

Asked if he was forced out, Bridges declined comment. He did say, "I do want to make it clear that I was not fired today."

His decision comes as a surprise to an athletic department that had been making strides over the past few years.

"I'm surprised," said men's baseball coach Greg Kamansky. "Dan was very supportive of our program and we are headed in the right direction."

all accounts, Bridges had Cal Poly on the rise nationally since moving over from Pomona College on Aug. 8, 2000.

Under Bridges' reign, attendance at sporting events was up 65 percent according to the university. Fund-raising numbers and interest in sports camps were also on the rise during that period.

"I'm very proud of what we have accomplished while I was at Cal Poly," said Bridges. "I got a chance to work with a lot of great coaches, great student-athletes and great people that were all committed to doing their best for Cal Poly."

However, rumors of pressure being put on Bridges began to surface about a month ago, leading to speculation about his future with the athletic department.

"I hope that is not the case," said Kamansky. "I am sad for this. I enjoyed working with Dan and will miss him. We all believe that as a department we were headed in the right direction."

On the surface that seemed to be noticed by university officials.

"The athletic department has experienced success under Dan both on the field and in the classroom," said Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Tomas Morales, Bridges' boss.

Morales would neither confirm nor deny that there was pressure on Bridges to leave, saying only that he and the university were happy for the effort given and happy for Bridges' new position.

"This is a great opportunity for Dan and his career," said Morales.

Bridges called his relationship with Morales one of "mutual respect," but admitted they did not agree on all the issues. He would not go into detail on what their differences were.

"We both wanted what is best for Cal Poly and that is the important thing," said Bridges.

"I'm very surprised and disappointed," said women's basketball coach Paul Thomas. "I consider Dan a very good leader, somebody who wanted to improve the department and make things better.

"From what I saw and what things are going on, I thought we were doing the right things."

The women won back-to-back national championships in 2001-'02 and the men's club is coming off a West Regional crown and its first trip to the Elite Eight since 1964.

Bridges was also able to give the soccer program a big boost when he hired former superstar Paul Caligiuri to coach two summers ago. Even the women's tennis team has received national attention the last two years, mostly with local talent.

The athletic department was also presented with a USA-Today-NCAA Academic Award for being among the Top 10 Division II institutions in the country in the category of student-athlete graduation improvement.

"Being a bigger part of the community and getting our local kids to look at us as a college option was important to me," said Bridges.

Morales said the school has no set time frame for any hire.

"Our athletic department has reached national prominence and we want to keep it that way," said Morales. "We will do a national search to identify the best possible candidate.

"The athletic program will will continue at full steam ahead as we go forward in that search."

Still, some are left wondering what was wrong with Cal Poly.

"I thought things were going quite well," said Thomas. "I hope we can keep things going in the future."